Menu

Looking Back

The building in the mirror was in one of my favorite shots.(I think I say that a lot, but it’s definitely true here)

That same sunset-painted building was an old bank – I’ll leave the politics for the news channels but will say how good it’ll be to see the recent economy drift quickly away and fall out of sight.

This was shot on film made by Kodak, a company that’s apparently on the verge of filing chapter 11 bankruptcy. The influence Kodak has had on photography, art, not to mention people’s lives and memories goes beyond words. In the mass exodus to everything digital, so many have lost sight of what came before. As they snap their Hipstamatic and Instagram shots and put on those cool filters, do they realize those treatments came from film? What will be the inspiration for future filters? Will people 20, 30 years from now be aching for that pixely, over-compressed, jpg filter? Will they be Googling for a way to get that blown out highlight look that makes people’s skin appear as if they’ve drunk themselves to an early liver death? Something tells me no.

This picture is the background on my brand new iPhone 4s. Yes, the two worlds can coexist very nicely. The very device that I cradle with care and shoot my own Hipstamatic and Instagram shots also stores a photo I took with a camera made in the late 40’s that I picked up for $30 in an antique store and restored like the camera freak I am.

Number 1 is at the top for a reason. I wasn’t thinking about #’s 2, 3 or 4 when I took this picture out of my side window, I was just moved to capture something that caught my eye, just like that first shot of the old bank building and just like every other picture on this site.

It’s my hope in the coming year to create many more shots like this one and post them here so you can have the chance to enjoy them with me.